Transplanter.



J. S. DE LONG.

TRANSPLANTER.

. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 16, 1913. I 7

1,062,585. Patented May 27, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH COnWASHINIJTDN. n. C.

J. S. DE LONG. TRANSPLANTER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.16, 191s.

1,062,585. Patented May 27, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIIIIW wanna JOHN S. DE LONG, OF OSBORN, OHIO.

TRANSPLANTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. January 16, 1913.

Patented May 27, 1913. Serial No. 742,464.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN S. DE Lone, acitizen of the United States, residing at Osborn, in the county ofGreene and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Transplanters, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in transplantersand the objects in view are to provide a machine of this characteradapted to facilitate the setting out of young plants and in suchsetting out to secure the objects in View by successively forming afurrow for the reception of the plants and injecting water into thefurrow at the same time the plants are dropped.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterwhich will possess advantages in points of efficiency and durability, isinexpensive of manufacture and at the same time is simple inconstruction and operation.

Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in thenovel features of construction and the combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter more fully described, pointed out in the claims andshown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a top plan viewof a trans planter constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2is a side elevation. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the shoe or furrowopener. Fig. at is a modified form of the transplanter. Fig. 5 is a sideelevation of the modified form. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modifiedform of furrow opener and Fig. 7 is a top plan view of still anothermodified form of the furrow opener.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates the platform,to the side edges of which are secured longitudinal pieces 2. Theforward ends of the pieces 2 extend beyond the front end of the platformand a guide roller 3 is journaled in the extending ends of the pieces 2.Mounted upon the platform 1 at the front end thereof is a water tank 4:which is supported upon the platform by means of the blocks 5 which areprovided with the upper concave faces 6 upon which the tank is adaptedto rest.

A shoe or furrow opener 7 is secured to theunder side of the platformand is adapted to open a furrow into which the young plants are to beplaced, said shoe being provided with a sharpened point 8 and increasingin thickness toward the rear end thereof so that the furrow will be madeof suiiicient size to permit of the ready insertion of the plantstherein.

A longitudinal handle member 9 is secured to the central portion of theplatform 1 and extending rearwardly thereof so that the machine may bepushed forwardly as the young plants are set in position. A hose or tube10 is connected to the tank 4 by means of the pipe 11 and extendsrearwardly and projects downwardly into the furrow at the rear of theshoe 7 so that as the furrow is opened the water may be dischargedtherein as required. The discharge of water from the hose 10 iscontrolled by means of the spring held valve 12 arranged in the tube 10adjacent the rear end thereof and actuated by means of the bell crank 13which is pivotally mounted upon the outer end of the handle 9, said bellcrank being suitably connected to the valve by means of the cord 14. Atransverse bar 15 is hingedly secured as shown at 16 to the inner end ofthe handle member 9 and is adapted to be disposed upon either side ofthe platform 1. The outer end of said bar projects beyond thelongitudinal edges of the platform and mounted thereon is a marking disk16 which, when one row is being set, is adapted to mark out the next rowto be set.

.Itwill be apparent from the above description taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings that my improved transplanter is to beoperated by hand, the operators getting down upon their knees andstraddling the row in a direct line which has been previously made bythe marker disk 16. T11 pushing'the machine forward, the operatorpresses upwardly upon the outer end of the bell crank 13 so as to openthe valve 12 and discharge water into the furrow. As the machine ispushed forward, as soon as the bell crank is released, the valve willclose. The operator then leaves the machine and removes a sufli cientnumber of plants from the platform 1 to fill the space in the furrowwhich has just been opened by pushing the machine forward. Each plant isplaced in the furrow and the operator presses the dirt around the rootsthereof with his hands, thus completely closing the furrow upon theroots of the plants.

In Fig. i, I have illustrated a modified form of my improvedtransplanter which is adapted to be drawn by draft animals, andreferring to the drawings, 1 indicates the frame which comprises thelongitudinal side pieces 2 suitably connected by means of the transversepieces 3, said side pieces 2 having suitable handles l formed at therear end thereof, and secured to the forward ends thereof is a suitablehitch 5, whereby draft animals may be readily hitched to the frame. Theforward end of the frame is suitably supported upon an axle 6 having thewheels 7 mounted upon the ends thereof and adapted to run upon thesurface of the earth. A shoe or furrow opener S is secured to the underside of the longitudinal center beam 9 and is adapted to open a furrowinto which the young plants are to be placed, said shoe being providedwith a sharpened point 8 which increases in thickness toward the rearend thereof so that the furrow will be made of sufficient size to permitof the ready insertion of the plants therein.

Mounted upon the frame and arranged transversely thereof is a water tank10 which is supported by means of the brackets 11 having curved upperfaces coincident with the circumference of the tank. Connected to thetank at the under side thereof is a suitable pipe or hose 12 whichextends rearwardly and projects downwardly at the rear end of the shoeor opener 8 so that as the furrow is opened, the water may be dischargedtherein as required. The discharge of water from the pipe 12 iscontrolled by means of the spring held valve 13 arranged in the pipeadjacent the rear end thereof and actuated by means of the bell crank 14which is pivotally mounted upon the outer end of one of the handles 4,said bell crank being suitably connected to the valve by means of thecord 15. The rear end of the frame is supported by means of the verticalbars l6 having mounted upon their lower ends the rollers 17 which arearranged in spaced relation and disposed upon opposite sides of thefurrow to press the lirt around the plants as they are placed therein.

A transverse bar 18 is hingedly secured as shown at 19 to the centralportion of the frame at the forward end thereof and is adapted to bedisposed upon either side of the frame 1. The outer end of said barprojects beyond the longitudinal edges of the frame and mounted thereonis the marking shoe 20 which, when one row is being set, is adapted tomark out the next row to be set. It will be apparent that if it isdesired, a platform 21 may be arranged upon the frame and provided witha suitable opening at the rear end of the frame whereby the young plantsmay be readily deposited in the furrow. An operators seatmay be mountedupon the platform at the rear of the opening 22 whereby the operatorwill be in position to quickly and easily place the plants within thefurrow.

In Fig. 6, I have shown a modified form of furrow opener, wherein theshoe or opener is secured to the under side of asuitable board or strip2f, one end of which is provided with a suitable handle 25 whereby theshoe may be pushed through the ground and open a furrow for theinsertion of the young plants. In Fig. 7, I have shown still anothermodified form of the invention wherein the shoe is secured to the underside of a platform 26 and secured to the front end of the shoe is a bar27, the outer end of which is bifurcated to form the two spaced arms 28,between which is rotatably mounted the guide wheel 29. Secured to therear of the shoe or opener 8 isa handle member 9 whereby the shoe may bereadily pushed through the ground. It will be apparent that the modifiedform of my improved shoe or furrow opener is preferably used when it isdesired to set the young plants out by hand.

It will be apparent from the above description taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings that by the use of this form of transplanter,a large number of young plants may be quickly and easily transplantedwithin the ground. In the operation of the device, the draft animals aresecured to the hitch 5, thus applying pulling power to the frame, theshoe 8 opening a suitable furrow as the frame is drawn forwardly. Theoperator sits upon the seat 23 and places the young plants in the furrowthrough the opening 22 in the platform, if the platform is to be usedupon the frame. As the frame is drawn forwardly and a furrow is opened,the driver actuates the bell crank 14 opening the valve 13 to dischargewater from the tank 10 into the furrow and as the frame passes along,the rollers 17 will press the dirt around the young plants which havebeen arranged within the furrow, thus completely closing the furrow uponthe roots of the plants.

From the above description it will be readily apparent that I haveprovided a simple and durable transplanter whereby young plants may bequickly and easily set in the ground and at the same time may besupplied with a sufficient amount of water. It will also be apparentthat the device is extremely simple in construction and can bemanufactured at a comparatively low cost.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, itwill be obvious that various changes in the details of construction andin the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carrying myinvention into practice, Without sacrificing any of the novel featuresor departing from the scope of the appended claims.

WVhat I claim is 1. In a device of the character described, thecombination of a platform, side bars secured to the longitudinal edgesof the platform and projecting beyond the end thereof, a rollerjournaled in the projecting ends of the side bars, a shoe secured to theunder side of the platform and adapted to open a furrow, a handle membersecured to the platform and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a watertank mounted upon the platform, a tube having one end connected with thetank and the other end opening into the furrow made by said shoe, aspring valve arranged within said tube and means for actuating saidvalve for discharging water within the furrow at various intervals.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination of aplatform, bars secured to the longitudinal edges of the platform andextending beyond one end thereof, a roller ournaled between theextending ends of the bars, a shoe secured to the under side of theplatform and adapted to open the furrow, a water tank mounted upon theplatform at the forward end thereof, a tube having one end connectedwith the tank and the other end thereof opening into the furrow, aspring held valve arranged within said tube, a handle secured to saidplatform and projecting rearwardly and a bell crank lever mounted uponthe rear end of the handle, a cord having one end connected to the valveand the other end to one end of the bellcrank lever whereby the valvemay be readily opened or closed to discharge water into the furrow and arow marker hingedly secured to the inner end of the handle member andadapted to be disposed upon either side of the platform.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination of aplatform, side bars se cured to the longitudinal edges of the platformand projecting beyond the end thereof, a roller journaled in theprojecting ends of the side bars, a shoe secured to the under side ofthe platform and adapted to open a furrow, a handle member secured tothe platform and projecting rearwardly therefrom, a water tank mountedupon the platform, and means for discharging water from the tank intothe furrow at various intervals.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN S. DE LONG.

. Witnesses J. F. Es'rERLINE, MORRIS D. RICE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Iatente, Washington, D. G.

